Mail-marking machine.



H. WALKER. MAIL MARKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED IAII.1,I9I5.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

H. WALKER. MML MARKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED IAN. 7, 1915.

1,214,243. Patented 3311.304917.

a E T,- HEET z. f Z. 04] su s s s H. WALKER.

`MAIL MARKING MACHINE.v APPucATloN man JANJ, m5.

1,214,243. Patented Jan. 30, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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HENRY WALKER, F WELLINGTON, E/V ZEALAND.

MAIL-MARKING MACHINE.

Application filed January 7, 1915.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, HENRY )WALKER a subject ofthe King of Great Britain, residing at Vellington, New Zealand, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in MailfMarking Machines,of which the following is a. specification.

This invention has -for its object the provision of a silent runningmail marking machine which will automatically receive mail from a facingtable of the ordinary kind, but preferably to work in conjunction with anovel apparatus attachable to an ordinary wooden post office tableconstituting` a feeding trough the said attachment being composed of anumber of units adapted to the length of the table and provided with eX-tensible supporting means at intervals.

The machine is also adapted by the removal of certain parts to be usedfor hand feeding of faced mail if required.

The leading features of this invention are a feeding trough in unitsadjustable in height to suit the facing tables used for the receptiono-f mail matter, a guide plate at an acute angle to the letter path incombination with a belt on the opposite side of the path together withrollers to receive mail matter from the feeding trough and also primaryand secondary feeding and separating rollers with the marking rollerdisposed on the right hand side of the letter path. There is also anadditional guide plate and feeding roller at the end of the feedingtrough next the mail marking table and the feeding belt in the feedingtrough is extended therefrom up to the second separator and feedlrollers on the mail marking table.

The invention consists in these features and in the features andcombination and arrangementz of parts hereinafter described. and moreparticularly set forth in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying draw-ings iny whichjFigure l is a general view in perspective of amail marking-machinecomprising the invention. Fig. 2 is aI plan' of the marking tableandparts thereon. Fig. 3 isan elevation of the'marking table and partsthereon illustrated in Fig. 2.. Fig.y t is a plan through A-B ofFig. 3.and showsl the belt driving arrangement. Fig. 5 is an enlarged View ofthe first separator roller, adjacent belt" pulley and4V part drivingmechanism; Fig. 6 is a. section showing part ofthe feed- Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 30, i917.

Serial No. 1,031.

ing trough, the belt therein and the first separator roller. Fig. 7 is across section of the feeding trough. Fig. 8 is a front view of thefeeding and tension rollers. Fig. 9 is a plan of the. feeding andtension rollers. Fig. lO'is a front view of the back pressure roller,type roller and inkpad roller. Fig. 11 is a modification showing aSupplementary guide and feeding roller in the feeding trough. Fig. l2 isa sectional elevation showing the feeding trough belt carried forward tothe second separator roller.

Mail matter tipped on to the facing table (l) from the receiving boxesis arranged with the stamped edge downward and rearwardin bunches anddropped by operators working side by side at the facing up table intothe feeding trough (2) on to the feeding belt 7 therein. The feedingtrough is in units of which one is illustrated and may be made of anydesired length by adding the necessary number of units. These units areadjustable in height by means of the nuts l2 screwing on the threadedupper ends of the standards7 (1l). The feeding trough abuts on the mailmarkingtable (25) and it having been found in practice that mail matterhas a tendency to catch between the first separator roller and the endof the feeding trough the inner wall of the feeding trough has acontinuation (58) which projects over the end of the table (25) and isslotted to allow of the first separator'roller 42 just passing throughit thus preventing mail matter catching as described. rlhe feeding belt7 passes over pulleys such as 8 and 9 and is kept taut by a pulley 14pivoted in a bracket 15 and is driven by belting from any convenientsourceY of power. The feeding belt 7 is continued as shown in Fig. 12 ona level with the mail marking table as far asv the second separatorroller 65 for the` purpose of assisting to forward mail matter that mayoccasionally 4halt inthe letter: path. A'. guide plate 110 with springVadjustment is lplaced at one side of the feeding trough and a feedingroller 111 on the otherside is driven from the feed belt pulley29'.Thiscombination insures a partial separation of the. mail matter beforeit reachesl theu first separator roller (4t2).

A feeding' belt (72) running"around"- the belt pulleys (29.) and (62) iskept'y atthe required tension by mea-ns` of theispringadjustableVtensionV pulleyv (76) situated. midi way of the belt pulleys whichcoperating with the feeding roller (74) carries the mail already roughlyseparated by thefirst separator roller (42) forward past the guide plate('81) which is adjustable by spring (82) so that the mail is convergedby the guide plate toward the second separator roller the forward end ofthe guide plate (81) coacting with the belt (72) also acting as aseparator. The mail matter carried forward to the second separatorroller (65) is there separated and passed by the impetus given by thefeeding belt 72 to the type roller (84) which is disposed on the righthand side of the letter path. The mail matter is marked in the usual wayand carried forward and stacked on the inclined plate 104 in the usualmanner.

The separator rollers (42) and (65) rotate so that the surfaces whichcontact with the letters move in the opposite direction from that inwhich the letters are moving and the feed rollers rotate forward alongthe letter path. These rollers and the type and ink rollers are drivenfrom pulley 39 on driving spindle 22 on which driving wheel 23 is drivenfrom anyv convenient source of power. A belt 38 on pulley 39 drivespulley 34 see F ig. 4 which drives belt 33 running around belt pulley 46fixed on spindle 30, belt pulley 67 having spindle 63 of roller 62,

thence around wheel 68a (which drives the back pressure roller by meansof a flexible shaft, see Fig. 10), and the driving wheel 99 of thestacker shaft 98.

The shaft 43 of the separator roller 42 and the shaft 66 of the roller65 are flexible.

Mail dropped into the feeding trough is carried by the belt running atthe bottom of the feeding trough to the first separating roller one ormore letters at a time according to the length of the feeding trough andthe number of men engaged in facing mail.

The rough separation at the first separating roller frequently resultsin mail overlapping, that is to say, mail is separated for a portion ofits length only and it is this peculiarity which being inseparable froman automatic device of that kind is provided for throughout the machineand which distinguishes it from others. In an automatic device it isevident that there must be suflicient lightness of tensioning of rollersusually loosely mounted not to retard diverse thickness of mail. In handfeeding this difiiculty is overcome by varying pressure of the hand.

Assuming that two pieces of mail in this machine are only partiallyseparated, say that the second piece is overlapping by one half thefirst piece, the two pieces will pass between the rollers in the sameway. rIhe mail is then projected toward the next forward pair ofrollers. The feeding band lengthwise is suitably arranged provided witha feeding surface and as a rule will advance the first piece of mail tosome extent, the second piece being retarded by a spring. The secondseparating roller will further retard the second letter and in the greatmajority of such cases will do so until the first lettervhas passedtoward the marking rollers. If the separation is incomplete it is of noconsequence for the reason that the marking roller is on the right handside of the letter path. The mail therefore passes between the markingrollers with its blank end (that is the end which does not bear thepostage stamp) first. The first piece of mail will be marked for itsentire length as the marking is continuous, and the second piece will bemarked say for three fourths of its length and the marking willnecessarily cover the postage stamp.

lVhen the machine is required to be used for hand feeding the adjustableguide plate 8l is removed.

In Fig. ll a modification is shown involving a supplementary guide 110similar to the device 8l of Fig. l, and a supplementary roller lll isindicated actuated by means of a belt driven from the pulley 29. In Fig.l2 a modification is indicated whereby the feeding trough belt 7 iscarried forward to the second separator roller 65.

Obviously other modifications and eXtensions will occur to those skilledin the art without in any manner departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. In a mail marking machine, a mailmarkingtable, roller type marking mechanism at one end of said table on theright hand side of the letter path, a belt pulley at the other end ofsaid table, a second belt pulley adjoining said roller type markingmechanism, a feed belt on said first and second belt pulleys, -a tensionroller for said belt midway the said first and second belt pulleys, aspring adjustable guide plate at an acute angle with said feed belt, aseparator roller opposite said first belt pulley, a. separa-tor rolleropposite said second belt pulley, and means for driving said beltpulleys and roller marking mechanism substantially as described.

2.In a mail marking machine, a mail marking table, roller type markingmechanism at one end of said table on the right hand side of the letterpath, a belt pulley at the other end of said table, a second belt pulleyadjoining said roller type marking mechanism, a feed beltV on said firstand second belt pulleys, av tension roller for said belt midway the saidfirst and second belt pulleys, a feed roller opposite to said tensionroller, a spring adjustable guide plate at an acute angle with saidfirst belt pulley,

and means for driving said belt pulleys and roller type markingmechanism substantially as described.

3. In a mail marking machine, a Vmail marking table, roller type markingmechanism at one end of said table on the right hand side of the letterpath, a belt pulleyl at the other end of said table, a second beltpulley adjoining said roller type marking mechanism, a feed belt on saidfirst and second belt pulleys, a tension roller for said feed beltmidway the said first and second belt pulleys, a feed roller opposite tosaid tension roller, and means for driving` said belt pulleys and rollertype marking mechamsm substantially as described.

l. In. a mail marking machine, a mail marking table, a roller typemarking mechanism at one end of said table on the right hand side of theletter path, a belt pulley at the other end of said table, a second beltpulley adjoining` said roller type marking mechanism, a feed belt onsaid first and second belt pulleys, a tension roller for said feed beltmidway the said first and second belt pulleys. a feed roller opposite tosaid tension roller, a spring adjustable guide plate at an acute anglewith said feed belt, and means for driving said belt pulleys and rollertype marking mechanism substantially as described.

In a mail marking machine, a mail marking table, roller type markingmechanism at one end of said table on the right hand side of the letterpath, a belt pulley at the other end of said table, a second belt pulleyadjoining said roller type marking mechanism, a feed belt on said firstand second belt pulleys, a tension roller for said belt midway the saidfirst and second belt 4 pulleys, a feed roller opposite to said tensionroller, a spring adjustable guide plate at an acute angle with said feedbelt, a separator roller opposite said first belt pulley, and means fordriving said belt pulleys 4 and roller type marking mechanismsubstantially as described.

G, In a mail marking machine, a mail marking table, roller type markingmechanism at one end of said table on the right .5 hand side of theletter path, a belt pulley at the other end of said table, a second beltpulley adjoining said roller type marking mechanism, a feed belt on saidfirstand second belt pulleys, a tension roller for said belt miduaythesaid first and second belt pulleys, a feed roller opposite to saidtension rollers, a spring adjustable guide plate at an acute angle withsaid feed belt, a separatei' roller opposite said firstbelt pulley, aseparator roller opposite said second belt pulley, and means for drivingsaid belt pulleys and roller type marking mechanism substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof l affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY VALKER.

Witnesses ANDREW JOHN PARK, AGNES WALKER REEKIE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

